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PUTTING ON THE GLITZ

Designer’s Final Touches Add Sparkle and Luster to Spring Swankienda
By Barbara Canetti

Jackie Podgurny says she has loved her house for all of the 14 years she has lived there. But even after a wide-ranging renovation in 2016, she still felt it lacked something. She wasn’t sure what was missing but knew it needed something special.

She contacted Yessica Chacon, a designer with Charbonneau Interiors, whose youthful and fresh ideas helped give the Podgurny’s expansive home in Bender’s Landing in Spring a new and renewed look.
“It was a team effort,” says Podgurny. “And now I re-love my home.”

The house sits at the end of a cul-de-sac and in the center of a two acre plot. Guests entering through the decorative double doors are greeted by a large foyer with a massive chandelier and a winding staircase to the second floor. On the right is a cozy study, which Chacon says she accessorized with textured yet blingy items, placed among a special selection of family photos. The two suede club chairs that were already there give the room a calm demeanor, which the designer contrasted with the art and artifacts.
Podgurny says she steps into this room to make phone calls when her two children are home and she seeks quiet time.

Across the hall is the dining room, anchored by Podgurny’s favorite piece of furniture: a wine rack that stores 50 bottles with all of them being entirely visible.

“I just love this piece,” she says. It covers an entire wall and dwarfs the long wood dining table, where ten could comfortably gather for a meal.

Chacon says she wanted to set the mood in the home, starting with the entryway with a bit of glitzy art and an interesting glass and metal console table with brown leather straps on its base. She found decorative pieces that gave the area a “wow” feeling, adding sparkle and luster. The art behind the table as well as the triptych in the stairwell are adorned with glitter, giving the area a shiny bright feeling. In the living room the height of the tall ceiling is enhanced with the floor to ceiling windows, framed in lush geometrically-designed drapes but allowing for sunlight and a daylong view of the yard and pool.

“Actually, the focal point of the living room is the outside,” says Chacon.

The open concept from the living area feeds into the newly renovated kitchen. Although Podgurny admits she doesn’t like to cook, she likes to be in the kitchen. In the center of the room is a formidable island — made of Cambria Summerhill quartz — a dramatic yet serene cloud-like countertop above a gray-green colored cabinet. The Podgurnys selected Viking appliances for the kitchen: double-door refrigerator, dishwashers, six burner stove, and other items built into the counters. The perimeter work spaces are covered in a steel gray granite with a leather-look finish. But it is here Podgurny spends her day.

The couple owns two businesses in the nearby communities, but she frequently works from home. She says she sits at the island where she is both comfortable and productive, rather than sitting behind a desk.

The master suite is on the main floor where Chacon again inspired the decorating with sparkles to offset the neutral fabrics and wall color. She continued the drapery design, with its geometric scheme, adding two gold symmetrical bedside mirrors with interesting gold markings. The whiteness of the large ensuite bathroom is counterbalanced with a tufted teal vanity stool. A delightful slipper tub sits adjacent to a marble enclosed shower with brass fixtures, glass bricks and Burano Bianco Valetta tile that resembles marble. Gary Bielamowicz of Simmons Custom Granite, who installed the kitchen and bathroom countertops and flooring, says the marbled tile is actually ceramic.

Upstairs in their teenage daughter’s suite of rooms are a bedroom, bathroom and lounge area. Their son’s bedroom is across the hall and features special display shelves for his athletic shoes. His room is next to a large family room and a media room for watching movies in comfortable chairs. Down the hall is Dion Podgurny’s office, where he sometimes conducts business.

One of the home’s special features is the outdoor space. A large pool and spa are surrounded with boulders and paths that lead to an outdoor kitchen and dining area. A pizza oven and voice-activated barbecue grill (“time to turn over your steaks!”) are embedded into stone counters and sit next to two bistro tables and chairs for outdoor dining.

“The patio lights at night transform this into a resort almost,” says Podgurny, adding that the family spends a lot of time outdoors.

“This is our home and this is where we raised our kids,” she says. “You can buy another house, but this is a home.”